Mad Season
by Shilyn
Summary: Rating is just to be safe, genre might change. One afternoon the Shard hunters are attacked by a fox. Inuyasha is bitten, but this is no normal wound. This is the kiss of Rabies...
1. Fox Bite

**Disclaimer:** No, I don';t own any money, not even this laptop I'm typing on really, the college gave it to me, but they want it back, stupid jerks. So yes, I DO NOT own Inuyasha...

**An:** Okay, this is to prove I'm not dead again. Don't worry anybody, I'm not quitting any old fics. I'm just doing this in my on campus boredom time. That means the writing isn't the greatest, but the idea amuses me and keeps my mind warmed up between classes when I have no one to talk to. You might hate it, you might love it, but at least it's something for you to read! I think this is perhaps THE most original idea I've had, it might be so original that NO one else has done it...er, I hope. **Anyway,** I shall return to _WOAWO and I Miss You_ when I have the time to do it RIGHT...please don't kill me, I felt I had to give you a present for being so good and patient, I hope you like this...I haven't the foggiest idea where it would go as far as plot, but I just HAD to do it. Hope you all can forgive me (this would never be too long as it is, only a few chapters at most, so it'd be done before you know it even at its most complex I think...) Please don't kill me! I want to live!

**Mad Season**

**

* * *

****Fox Bite**

"So, what do you think?" Kagome looked between her friends with a cautiously hopeful expression; her fingers absently twirled a small strand of her raven black hair.

Swallowing hurriedly, Shippo lifted wide, excited green eyes when he answered, "It's _delicious_ Kagome!" as if to prove his words true the little kitsune bit into his food again, his fingers coming back coated dark and sticky. He licked his fingers clean hungrily. "It's almost as good as chocolate!"

"Thank you Shippo. I'm glad you like it." The schoolgirl smiled, looking slightly relieved, and patted the youngster's head.

"What did you say it was again?" Sango asked, delicately picking over the bright white bread and taking a quick sniff of the brownish substance inside. The majority of the time Sango didn't have a doubt about the food Kagome brought—much of it was familiar once one got passed the outer wrapping of "pla-stick." But the bright white, fluffy stuff that Kagome called "bread" was unfamiliar to her, and though it was generally odorless and the color of rice, she knew that wasn't what it was made from. The spicy, strong smelling stuff beneath it was unlike anything she'd ever encountered before. Shippo liked it well enough, that was true, but Shippo was a demon and Sango knew hungry demons would eat carrion without hesitation if it was all they could find.

"It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Kagome replied, smiling timidly. Nervously, her eyes glided to where Inuyasha was glaring down at his own sandwich suspiciously.

Sango frowned inwardly, though she didn't let the expression reach her face, and silently pitied Kagome. Inuyasha would never admit to liking the foods she brought them, even if it was only to annoy her, which was what Sango quietly believed was the truth. Of course, the hanyou _was_ dense, unless he was also a great actor and had them all fooled. It was her guess that any second now Inuyasha would push the sandwich away and ask Kagome to make him some Ramen instead. Then the afternoon would progress into a battle between the offended schoolgirl and the stubborn, irritable hanyou.

Praying that she could stall the inevitable, Sango swallowed hard and brought the foreign food to her lips. A sharp, strong taste assaulted her tongue. Carefully, Sango chewed the stuff, sneaking tastes as she tried to decide whether or not she liked the new food. Salty, spicy…and a smooth, sticky texture.

"This is…" Kagome's flash of eager anticipation when she heard Sango's voice and saw her chewing made the demon slayer pause, suddenly frightened of letting her friend down. "…a powerful taste…"

A perplexed look flashed across Kagome's features abruptly and then she opened her lips and formed an "O" shape with them, as if she'd had a revelation. "Sango! I'm so sorry! You got the straight peanut butter! I'm sorry!" hurriedly, she fumbled through the picnic basket, producing a different sandwich that she promptly handed to Sango. "This one has some jelly in it, I'm sorry—" she jabbered on as Sango swallowed her first mouthful and took the new sandwich, examining it. "—you see; my little brother is so picky he'll only take straight peanut butter! So out of habit I guess I just made some of everything…"

Miroku had also bitten into his own sandwich by then, his face was contemplative as he chewed, his violet eyes watched Sango and Kagome's interactions avidly. Finally he too nodded, passing judgment on the new food. "Indeed, Lady Sango is right about these san-witches, as is Shippo. A very powerful, but delicious taste."

"Thank you, Miroku!" she grinned pleasantly and dug into the picnic basket, bringing out another different sandwich, this one was shiny around the edges as something oozed between the bread crusts. "I've always liked peanut butter and honey myself, so I made a few of those too. Here Shippo, try this one, I'd bet you'd love it!"

Unafraid of what she offered him, Shippo bit into the next sandwich and his green eyes sprang wide. "Oooh!"

Kagome giggled at his eager expression—until she noticed Inuyasha's silence, his cranky, arms crossed over his chest, sitting position. And in front of him, lying on the pink with white polka-dot blanket Kagome had brought with her as their impromptu eating place, was the untouched peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Noticing her stare, Inuyasha's golden irises slid slowly over to regard the schoolgirl. A scowl twisted his face and his ears twitched, falling backward. "What are you lookin' at me like that for?"

"Aren't you going to try yours, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, eyebrows lifted hopefully.

"Feh!" he turned slightly, trying to maneuver his back to face her. "You think I'm gonna be nice and lie like everybody else? I'm not gonna eat that—why didn't you just bring Ramen wench?"

Shippo, Sango, Miroku and even Kilala scowled as the inevitable battle of wills descended on the former peace of their group.

"Because there are more foods in the world besides Ramen, Inuyasha!" Kagome huffed, crossing her own arms, mirroring the hanyou's posture. "And anyway, you don't have to eat all of it, just _taste _it! After all the work I went to it's not asking much!"

"I'm not tasting anything _you_ make unless it's Ramen! You always make it so damned spicy…"

Kagome groaned in exasperation and suddenly Inuyasha's ears drooped a little—too late he sensed what was coming with his usual obnoxiousness. Unwilling to relinquish his opinion, and at the same time reluctant to be punished, the hanyou uttered his monosyllable answer to everything: "Feh!"

"You really should just try it, Inuyasha." Shippo muttered, "I mean, I'm only a little kid, but even _I'm _not scared to try Kagome's food…"

"What the hell are you talking about, runt?" the hanyou raged abruptly, "I'm not scared!"

"I do believe that Shippo has a point, Inuyasha—" Miroku began, hiding a smirk.

Inuyasha whirled on him, the tips of his white fangs bared. "Shut up!"

"Quit being a baby!" Kagome grumbled; arms still crossed unhappily, throwing the difficult hanyou a nasty glare. "Don't make me say _it."_

He turned to shout back something that would, undoubtedly, offend her enough to evoke punishment for sure, but stopped as if a light had turned on inside his brain, as if the secret of life had grown clear to him. Mouth hanging open slightly, amber eyes wide and unseeing, he looked as if time had frozen for him, paused his life—and then he blinked, shaking his head a little. A scowl broke over his face, the amber eyes narrowed. Suddenly the sandwiches were forgotten as the group recognized the change in the hanyou and just what it meant.

There was trouble coming.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Sango ventured, being the first to swallow her latest bite full of peanut butter and jelly. "What's wrong?"

"Is it a demon?" Miroku pressed, shifting his position to grab hold of his staff. It jangled as he lifted it to be supported by his shoulder.

"I don't sense any Shards…" Kagome supplied, staring in bafflement as Inuyasha rose up to his feet, his hands on the hilt of his sword.

Shippo dropped his sandwich and sniffed the air, his tail bushing out slightly. "I…" he swallowed fearfully, "I can't smell anything through the sandwiches!" he whimpered, looking to Kagome with something that might've been shame.

"Feh." Inuyasha grunted, finally answered them, his stance had loosened, the tension slipping out of him. "Well I guess it's a good thing I didn't eat any of them, isn't it?" he scoffed.

Kagome frowned, "Inuyasha…"

Sango cut her off, "Well, what was it?"

Inuyasha turned back to face them, shrugging, though atop his head his ears flicked about, listening for danger. "Nothing but a sick fox."

"Hey! I'm not sick!" Shippo leapt onto the hanyou's shoulder and pulled on his hair, only to receive a snarl from Inuyasha and a quick flick from his fist that knocked the kit clean off.

"Not you, runt. I'm talking about an animal, not a youkai." Taking a step back toward picnic basket and Kagome's polka-dotted blanket, he still appeared uneasy, ear twittering, swiveling uncertainly.

"A sick fox?" Miroku quoted, looking around the group with a keen, curious gleam in his eyes. "You've never bothered to sniff out sick animals before, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, well…" the hanyou never finished his intended words before Shippo's quick gasp and wild, frenzied pointing toward the forest and brush just behind them made the group turn, bodies stiffening at the potential for combat. Inuyasha, already on his feet, rushed forward into a position to defend his companions, his face a snarling mask.

The spot they'd chosen for their picnic, and exposure to Kagome's foreign foods, was just beside the road they'd been traveling on for several weeks, casually seeking Jewel Shards. Thick summer foliage lined the road: maples, pines, and birch trees rustling their leaves in the wind. Underbrush filled in the gaps between the larger foliage, ferns, bushes, some alight with blooming flowers, wildflowers and nameless, wiry plants clamored for space and sunshine.

Slipping out of this dense, dark forest, a small animal—a dull, gray-colored fox—stumbled into the small clearing beside the road. The fox turned its head about wildly, as if dizzy, and its hind legs collapsed underneath it. Its ears, two gray triangles atop its head, started to shake, as if convulsing. Its olive green eyes blinked dazedly, struggling to adjust to the change in the light.

Inuyasha's hand on his sword loosened for a moment with uncertainty, but his eyes never left the small, clumsy creature. Behind him Miroku, Sango, and Kagome rose to their feet, varied mixtures of confusion and alarm registering on their faces.

"The poor thing…" Kagome ventured, moving to grab one of the sandwiches, tearing a chunk from one corner and starting to move toward the collapsed, shivering fox. Inuyasha's hand shot out, grasping her arm with a hard, fast grip and firm, angry glare, both of which stopped Kagome right in her tracks.

"What? It's probably starving! And considering that _you_ aren't going to eat yours, Inuyasha..." her indignant words died as soon as she took note of the seriousness of Inuyasha's expression. She tried again, her voice wavering uncertainly despite her protest. "It's just a fox."

"Something about it ain't right. We should get going, put some distance between us and…" The hanyou scowled when Kagome looked unconvinced, "I _told _you, it's _sick._"

"But—_look_ at it!" Kagome glanced back at the fox, the gray fur quivering as the animal suffered. Its eyes locked with hers and she saw the nose twitch, surely smelling the little bit of peanut butter sandwich she was holding. She could almost hear the fox's desperate, keening cry in her ears: _"Just a little food, just a swallow of water, if only I could…just a swallow, a tiny bite."_

The fox shuddered once, tried to lift its head from the ground, and then gave in, its eyes fluttering closed weakly.

"Feh. Fine, whatever wench." Inuyasha's grip left her arm, flying instead to her hand, and Kagome was startled when she felt the rasp of his claws over her palm, scraping out the chunk of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "But _I'll_ do it, you pack up that stuff and make me some Ramen, dammit." He growled, absently taking a step toward the fox.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo shouted, frantically, rushing forward to lock himself onto Kagome's leg, "Let's just go! It smells _wrong."_

"I have to agree with Shippo, Inuyasha, Lady Kagome." Miroku inserted, also taking a step forward, his staff jangling.

When Kagome's incredulous, irate stare turned in the direction of the monk; he struggled not to flinch guiltily. "I'm not saying we should keep it as a pet, Miroku! But can't you see it's suffering?"

Sango nodded beside Miroku, laying a hand on his shoulder when he looked as if he might argue. "Kagome's right, a little food wouldn't be bad for it, and I doubt it poses any real threat…" her brow rippled slightly, uncertainty showing through, but she counseled herself with her silently added thought: _What harm could a little mortal fox pose to a half-demon like Inuyasha?_

"Feh! Let's just—" as the hanyou spoke he idly tossed the clump of peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the sickened fox and half-turned his body to regard the tension pervading the rest of the group. "—get our asses moving before—" he didn't see the sandwich bit fly through the air, didn't see it smack onto the fox's snout, and he didn't catch the sudden wild rolling of the animal's eyes. Its head lifted from its paws, trailing slimy, frothy drool from muzzle to ground. "—Naraku gets anymore of those damned Shards. Enough distractions…"

Miroku and Sango's expressions twisted as he watched them, contorting with shock and horror at his words. For a moment Inuyasha smirked and opened his mouth, about to agree with their horror, _yeah, the idea of Naraku getting another Shard kills me too…_ but Kagome's abrupt gasp at his side made him turn back, irritated. "What—?"

The gray fox stumbled toward them, its teeth bared, slimy drool drizzling from its jaws steadily. Shippo screamed, leaping frantically for Miroku and Sango, green eyes wide and terrified. Kagome stepped backwards, leaving the clumsy, impaired gray fox several feet short of her. Her eyes were glued to the matted gray and dingy fur, the slobbering, frothy saliva trailing from its bared fangs.

Drunkenly, the fox tumbled forward, eyes spinning, teeth still bared threateningly. Its breathing was heavy, fast, and labored, but it was slow moving and clumsy, leaving it an easy target for Inuyasha's claws. Moving between Kagome and the fox, a red and white blur made Kagome's thoughts spin with sudden, terrible panic.

"Inuyasha! No don't _touch_ it!"

The hanyou ignored her. "You mangy fox," he spat, "You looking for a fight—you got it!" he flexed his clawed hands and rushed forward, easily slashing the sick animal's body…but not before its canines sank into the flesh of his wrist, nicking his skin and drawing a faint scratch of blood.

There was a faint yelp from the dying fox as it registered pain, its eyes flicking round in their sockets, and then it was quiet, unmoving. The chest spluttered once, fighting to breathe, and then it stopped altogether. The slick, slimy shine of its drool was still drying in the grass and the weeds.

Snorting in disgust, Inuyasha flicked his hand briefly, wiping it free of slime and blood on one trouser leg, then turned and regarded the silent, grim faces of his companions. "What? How many times do I have to tell you people! You can't be nice to anyone or anything! They'll just try to kill you." He growled, aiming his animosity at Kagome in particular, though once his glare flew to Sango, noticeably annoyed.

"Let's get out of here!" Shippo whimpered from where he was crouched between Miroku and Sango, beside Kilala. "That was just creepy!" The little fire-cat's small rumbling growl answered Shippo with a dark agreement.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome swallowed hard, her eyes darting between the dead fox and the hanyou's irritated scowl. Very slowly her lips and chin began to tremble, and then her eyes started to water with tears…

"What?" he snapped, stomping toward the forgotten picnic basket before the scent of her tears reached him and he stiffened, ears turning backward. "Kagome? Why the hell are you crying!" despite his attempt at anger, the hanyou's voice was fraught with concern, a muscle in his jaw twitched when a few of the schoolgirl's tears slipped out of her large brown eyes.

She couldn't speak, and her silence made Inuyasha growl, his gaze roving over the group as he realized all of them were troubled, all of them were grim. "What!" he shouted, frustrated.

Miroku was frowning, his violet eyes narrowed with something akin to suspicion. "The fox completely ignored the food."

"And it was hardly strong enough to walk…" Sango's nodding was grim; her lips formed a hard, white line.

"Oh no you don't!" Inuyasha yelled, amber gaze burning with anger. "There is _no_ way you're going to make me feel guilty for killing that _thing_—no way! Let's just get our asses moving and forget any of this ever happened, got that?"

"Inuyasha, you don't understand—" Sango began, looking to Miroku and then, briefly, with a pained expression, to Kagome. "That fox, there was something _wrong_ with it."

"Feh!" the hanyou snarled, "Not anymore! C'mon, quit staring at me and let's go!" he turned, glaring harshly at Kagome, "And _you,_ stop crying! _Please!"_

With her chin still quivering, Kagome stifled a sob and suddenly moved toward the hanyou, reaching out for his hand determinedly. Inuyasha yanked it away, still glowering. "Inuyasha!" the sobbing schoolgirl shouted, "Let me see it!"

"Is this why you're crying?" he grumbled, rolling his eyes and moving side his sleeve so that she could look and the small, shallow bite wound the fox had left on the hanyou's wrist. "It'll be gone by tomorrow, wench!"

Kagome's fingers on his wrist were weak. Her eyes were glued to the wound and filled with tears, which made the hanyou wince with sympathetic misery. He hated her tears above everything else—short of Naraku—and despised the show of vulnerability and emotion most especially when it had to do with him. Couldn't she see it was nothing serious, nothing she needed to feel bad about? He knew she often harbored guilt for his injuries, blaming herself…

The terrible, quiet calm in her eyes made shudders travel down his back as she slowly lifted her eyes to meet his and said the most ridiculous thing he's heard all day: "We need to get to the well, _now."_

Blinking in dismay for a second before he scowled, Inuyasha ripped his arm away from her, irritably. "What the hell's gotten into you, wench? First you want to feed some mangy, wild fox, then you cry when I get a scratch, and _now_ you want to go home! There are Shards to find—we need you here!"

"I'm serious, Inuyasha!" she shouted, tears forming in her eyes again. The hanyou winced at her, pulling back slightly and crossing his arms. "I need you to come with me to my time…just to be sure."

"What! Why?" his ears fell backward, his expression twisted with exasperation, "What the hell are you talking about, Kagome!"

"I think I may know what Lady Kagome is trying to say, Inuyasha." His staff jangled as he turned, facing Sango, "Sango, would you agree that the fox was possessed by the Madness?"

Sango glanced from Miroku to Inuyasha, a strange, solemnity growing inside her gaze. Her lips turned downward slightly. "Yes, there were many dogs in my village who succumbed to just such a sickness. When I was hardly more than a girl, our own dog was bitten by a fox such as this with the Madness." She lowered her eyes, unable to meet the stares of the others, Inuyasha's especially. "My father had to kill him."

"I knew we should've left sooner!" Shippo squealed suddenly breaking out into loud, wailing sobs. "I _knew_ it smelled bad!"

"You morons better start making sense real soon…" Inuyasha warned, his eyes darkening.

Kagome pulled on his arm again, tears still streaking down her face. "Inuyasha—that fox had _rabies—and it bit you!"_

"Ray-bees?" his ears fell back and he frowned skeptically.

"It's a disease, Inuyasha, and it spreads through bites." She bit her lip, her hands squeezing around his arm, "And it's fatal."

The hanyou appeared unconcerned. "Feh! Maybe for _you_ people, but not for me." As if to demonstrate his stark differences, Inuyasha's white ears twitched and swiveled. His fangs glittered just past the flesh of his lips. "Now—let's get moving! Naraku isn't going to wait on us, you know."

Miroku moved faster than any of them expected, placing himself in front of Inuyasha's path, his face a stern mask. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but if it's the Madness," he looked to Kagome and nodded once, "Ray-bees, as Lady Kagome's people call it, then I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think."

"Are you calling me dumb, monk!" Inuyasha snarled, glaring.

"Not at all—"

Inuyasha snorted, interrupting him. "Damn straight. Now, let's stop wasting time and—"

Suddenly Sango was standing in front of him too, her face a mirror of Miroku's sternness. "Inuyasha, you don't understand the seriousness of the Madness. If you're wrong and you become ill…" she gestured toward the bleeding, battered, defeated body of the gray fox, "You'll attack us mindlessly, just like it did." She unconsciously tightened her hold on hiraikotsu where it rested, strapped against her back, "We'd have to kill you—it'd be just as if you'd lost control of your youkai-blood and…"

She stopped speaking when she saw, finally, that her words had had the desired effect. The hanyou's face drained of color and his lips disappeared, pinched tightly into a white line. He seemed speechless, unable to speak as the horrible possibility grew in his mind, looming like a giant.

"In my era, Inuyasha," Kagome began, her voice wavering uncertainly, "We have a cure—but we have to hurry…"

In front of him Miroku and Sango were nodding gravely, each trying to appear as if they were looking him in the eye when, in fact, they weren't. Shippo and Kilala, a short distance away, regarded the scene with a mixture of disbelief and horror—and at his side he could still scent Kagome's tears, threatening. He growled below his breath and unconsciously pulled his wounded wrist higher up, hiding it inside the red folds of his sleeve.

"Fine—whatever." He scowled at Kagome quickly, "Just as long as _you_ stop _crying!"

* * *

_

Yes, I hope you all can forgive me! I hope it offered something in the way of entertainment, considering that I said a week for WAOWO and I've been BAD...sorry...college life interjected...I promise though, that I'm not dead! Just busy and all, I did, however, finish my novel. Now I have to edit it...(groans...)


	2. Race For the Cure

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of them. Just myself.

**A/N:** I once had a nonfiction writing professor show astonishment at my wide-range of random knowledge. He wrote something in my final portfolio like, "And where did you learn all of this…?" Psha! I am Le Nerd. I live to research extinct animals, viruses, bacteria, genetic crap, animals, rocks, volcanology, anatomy (well some of it anyway), sex…so here this is an example of my Nerdism. Rabies is the bomb. Random fact about rabies: India loses 30,000 people a year to it. 70% of all rabies deaths happen in India alone. Yeah…that SUCKS. Anyway, I just randomly found that I had some writing on this story, a short thing for shits and giggles if you will.

* * *

**MAD SEASON**

**

* * *

****Race for the Cure**

Inuyasha led the way, as usual. He appeared blithely unconcerned with the possibility that his body had become a ticking time bomb and that soon he _might_ be afflicted with the Madness. Of course, his lack of concern could have stemmed from Kagome's assurances that there was a cure, just on the other side of the well.

But even so, for the direness that the others perceived in the situation, Inuyasha was markedly unconcerned. He walked several yards ahead of the others with his arms raised over his head and crossed there, as if he were reclining while in midstride. His companions had gathered in a cliquish group behind him, talking quietly together. They watched the hanyou's back as they walked; worried about him and that he might overhear them.

"What do you know about the Madness, Kagome?" Sango asked, leaning in close to the schoolgirl.

Kagome shook her head, biting her lip as she watched Inuyasha's comfortable, cocky stride up in the distance. "Not a lot…"

Shippo was on her other shoulder. As soon as she'd spoken he let out a long, sad noise. "Aw, but Kagome," he shifted, turning on her, gripping her neck awkwardly with one hand like some kind of monkey, and pulled on her backpack. "But you're carrying all these books with you! I thought they taught you _everything _there!"

"Well, rabies isn't exactly a subject like Reading or Math or History…"

"But there is a cure?" Miroku asked, whispering the words in her ear, close behind her.

"Eek!" Kagome scooted away from the perverted monk, covering her rear with both hands. Her abrupt motion jarred Shippo and he clutched at her shirt, nearly falling off. As soon as Kagome was safely away from his reach, sheltered near a now cranky Sango, she tried to hide her reaction. Blushing, she pulled her hands away from her backsides and smiled at Miroku, innocently, as if the thought that he would grope her had never entered her mind at all. "Miroku, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"My apologies," Miroku coughed into his hand. He wore a regal, solemn look on his face, as if the thought of groping her—or any other woman—had absolutely never crossed his mind. Ever. "As I was saying, you mentioned that there is a cure?"

Shippo dared to laugh, his little voice chirping. "You'll have to put it in Ramen to get Inuyasha to eat it!"

Kagome twisted her head around to try and look at the kit as she walked, instantly correcting him. "Oh, the _cure_ isn't something he could eat."

"Is it some kind of magic?" Shippo asked, his green eyes widening with excitement. He imagined a kitsune casting a spell over Inuyasha, preferably something mildly unpleasant that would let the others laugh at his expense. Perhaps the cure would be a spell that made Inuyasha's body itch as if he had a rash?

"No, it's a vaccination. A series of them actually." She stared at Inuyasha's back, at the long flow of his hair like a snowy waterfall. She swallowed thickly, feeling a tremor of doubt. "But it has to be given as soon as possible after a bite or it won't work. Inuyasha has to have enough time to gain an immunity from the shots."

"Shots?" Sango asked, catching the new word. "You sound as if this _cure_ is given with a weapon."

"Well it kind of is," Kagome murmured, making a face. "The doctor injects you with a needle so we call it a shot."

"Ew!" Shippo squeaked from her back.

"Do you mean acupuncture?" Miroku asked. (A/N: I'm not sure historically if they would have known about acupuncture, as I think it originated in China, but Chinese influence had crossed the sea to reach Japan before the timeframe of _Inuyasha._ It's possible someone like Miroku, who was probably educated fairly well as a monk, would have heard of it.)

"Ack-you…what?" Shippo asked. His tail puffed out, bristling.

"It is a procedure done to help one's health," Miroku explained. "It is performed by a physician who has been trained to know the proper points in the body that will offer healing and wellbeing when a small needle is inserted and—"

"That's horrible!" Shippo squealed. He pushed Kagome's hair away from her neck and pushed his head underneath the thick black mat of it. Only his tawny tail remained clearly visible with his fox paws, the pink pads of his small feet exposed.

"It's not acupuncture," Kagome said, sighing tiredly. "But the people in my time rely on it to keep them healthy. It's preventative medicine. I had a bunch of them when I was a baby myself."

"You said the cure must be given quickly after a bite," Sango said with a deep intensity in her voice. She was concerned, deeply afraid. "How long does he—do we have?"

Kagome fought the sudden surge of pressure behind her eyes, the constriction in her chest. Inuyasha's red Fire Rat haori and hakama blurred ahead of her. _How long?_ She tried to remember anything she'd heard about the disease. A newscast had played once for a whole day with reporters describing a dog that had bitten a boy. They wanted the dog to be caught and examined. They needed to know if it had rabies, if it had an owner, if it had ever been vaccinated. It was a situation that Kagome had sensed desperation in, a time-crunch. If the dog wasn't found and determined to be uninfected within a limited period of time then the doctors would have to begin the grueling rabies inoculation on the bitten boy.

Time was crucial. Too late and any vaccine that a doctor gave Inuyasha would be pointless. He would already be sick. _Rabies is fatal. Fatal._ It was one of few diseases that had such a harsh edict. Kagome wasn't sure she had ever heard of someone surviving it at all…

She shook her head and sniffed, trying to bury her tears. If Inuyasha picked them out he would scold her and their conversation would be over. "I don't know."

But that was a lie. It would take them a week at least to reach the well. It struck Kagome as too long. The boy that had been bitten in Tokyo had never found the dog. The newscast played for less than a day. Kagome had heard it in the afternoon during her lunch hour, and again in the evening when her grandfather listened to the news on television. But the next morning the search for the dog had ended without luck. The boy received the vaccination to assure his safety and his life though there was no way of knowing whether or not he would have contracted the virus.

A few hours? A day? Perhaps two? A week or two weeks—that was too long. She strained her brain, searching for the gestation period. She tried to compare it to something more common. How long did it take to catch a cold? Had she heard three days? Was Rabies similar?

"Kagome?" Sango asked, prodding the schoolgirl gently by touching her arm at the elbow.

Kagome flinched and blinked rapidly. "Oh, sorry, I zoned out for a minute." She laughed nervously.

"Could you guess how long?" Sango asked, again speaking with a lowered voice.

She tried to control herself but failed. Kagome choked out, "A few days. Probably less." She wiped her hands over her face, trying to cover up the growing fear and foreboding that made her fingers shake.

"But Inuyasha is hanyou," Shippo pointed out, poking his head out of Kagome's hair.

"That's right," Miroku chimed in eagerly, even cheerfully. "We can't forget that. I've never seen him catch a cold before, Kagome. Have you?"

Kagome frowned. "I haven't seen you catch a cold before either, Miroku." She drew a deep, shuddering breath. "But I really, really hope you're right."

"Perhaps we could convince Inuyasha to race ahead and go through the well alone," Sango suggested, suddenly bright and excited. "One of your physicians could see him and give him the cure then before it's too late."

"How soon do you think he could get to the well if we weren't slowing him down?" Miroku asked.

"I don't know—he might be able to do it in time. My mom could take him to the doctor." She pictured Inuyasha in his red cap, grouchily sitting in a waiting room with her mother, glaring at kids with stuffy noses and old men with hacking, wet coughs. Mrs. Higurashi would read a magazine while they waited, patient and calm. Inuyasha would probably fidget the entire time. The thought of missing the scene saddened Kagome, but Inuyasha's life was on the line.

"What are we waiting for?" Shippo demanded.

"We all should do it," Miroku said. "He didn't want to listen to any one of us alone about this. I doubt that now will be any different. We must be united in our decision and our concern."

"Yes," Kagome agreed.

* * *

Inuyasha was woefully unprepared for the discussion that enveloped him only moments later. He had been aware of the others behind him talking quietly, and he knew that it was probably about him, but he didn't care. His only motivation for the journey they were undertaking, abandoning the hunt for Jewel Shards for the time being, was that the slightest chance that he might turn on his friends because of a disease gave him enough pause to agree.

Otherwise his mind was free to wander without Kagome or Shippo to walk beside him, bickering or jabbering. He had enjoyed the comparative solitude and had nearly forgotten about the trouble with the fox when suddenly Kilala bounded in front of him and transformed.

He stopped and huffed with surprise. "What the hell? Kilala—get out of my way."

"Inuyasha," Sango called, moving to take a place at Kilala's side, also blocking his path.

Inuyasha dropped his relaxed stance with his arms crossed above his head. He shrugged his shoulders, adjusting them, and then crossed them over his chest. The red haori sleeves were long and billowing and, like a dog that raises its fur along its back, the extra material made Inuyasha look bigger, more intimidating. "What is it now, Sango? You're slowing us up…"

"We have to talk to you," Miroku said, speaking from just behind the hanyou.

Inuyasha strangled a yelp and whirled around to glare. He found Miroku and Kagome staring at him. Shippo peeked out around Kagome's shoulder and gave a timid, faint smile.

"What is going on with you idiots?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Inuyasha," Kagome started, sighing heavily, trying to restrain the impending tears. "We've all agreed we want you to go on ahead of us and go through the well."

"What? Why the fuck would—"

Miroku interrupted in a smooth, confident voice. "Lady Kagome's cure on the other side of the well is restrained by time, Inuyasha. We have been talking and we feel the only way for you to reach her time—and the cure—soon enough for the cure to work is by leaving us here and going on as fast as you can alone."

Behind him Sango added lightly, "We only slow you down anyway."

Inuyasha growled and his ears fell down flat. "You're all fucking slowing me down now!"

"Inuyasha—it's important to us that you get this cure and it has to happen _soon,_ in a few days, less than a week. As soon as possible. If you tell my mother what happened she will know just what to do. Please, go on without us and go through the well." Kagome stared into his eyes, pleading him as she lost control of her tears and they began to course uncontrolled down her cheeks.

He shook his head and growled, curling his lips with a fierce, surprising anger. "What the hell is this about, wench? Monk? Nothing's gonna fucking happen to me so stop freaking out!"

Sango abruptly asked, "Inuyasha—have you ever caught a human cold?"

"Fuck no!" He banished the quiver of doubt that passed through him at the lie. He could recall clearly the burning in his throat as a small pup, the way his body quaked with shivering and coughing. His mother hovered over him, desperately worried. She fed him concoctions, called healers and forced them to treat her son, no matter their personal feeling toward his dog ears and bright white hair. It had not been a simple illness like the common cold. It was something else, a disease that had filled his mother with panic and worry. When he had recovered she held him close and cried, filling the tiny Inuyasha with alarm. Later he realized that the illness had killed many of the other children he knew. It was his first recollection, his first realization, of Death. He would never see those children's faces again. They had been wiped away by the sickness.

The others caught the lie somehow. He growled with rising irritation and self-doubt when he saw Kagome turn away, suddenly sobbing. Even Shippo had stopped looking him in the eye.

"What the fuck is the matter with you people?" he snapped. "I ain't fucking sick! How many times do I have to say it?"

"Please," Miroku murmured in a stern voice. "Inuyasha—you must go on ahead of us to the well. We will be fine on our own."

"Like hell! Every other day some slobbering monster comes along after our Shards! Dammit! I ain't leaving Kagome here alone with those Shards." He glared at the monk. If his amber eyes could have killed they would have struck Miroku down in his spot on the dusty road. Their suggestion for him to leave had nothing to do with Kagome's cure, Inuyasha decided, bitterly. It was about their primal fear of him losing control. If the disease they feared caused such loss of control they would of course try to send him away. It was for their own good. Even Inuyasha would have agreed on that if he had been certain that he were going to fall ill and lose control, harming his friends. But there was no certainty here. Now their reaction pained him, a harsh reminder of how different from them he really was.

"Then take Kagome with you," Shippo said.

Inuyasha paused, startled by the suggestion. "What?"

"Does having her on your back slow you down very much?" Shippo asked.

Blinking, Inuyasha shook his head. "No…"

If they were trying to send him away because they were afraid of his illness, of his loss of control, why were they trying to sacrifice Kagome? More doubt filtered into Inuyasha, making him hesitate. He twisted the right wrist where the fox had bitten him, feeling the little jolt of pain that the movement brought. He tucked it partly behind his back, conscious of the wound, of the fear it inspired in his companions.

"Will you go, Kagome?" Miroku asked, turning his head to look at her.

The schoolgirl straightened up and wiped at her face hurriedly, trying to cover her tears. Inuyasha scowled at the salty stink of her grief. "Stop the crying, wench…" he halfway pleaded. If he had been alone with her he would have softened his voice, but with the others present he kept it deep and irritated.

She nodded and answered Miroku shakily. "Yeah, of course." She looked him in the eye. "As long as it won't slow you down any?"

"Not much," he grunted.

Her jaw tightened then. "How long do you think it will take you to get to the well?"

Inuyasha glanced toward the trees lining the road, thinking. At their leisurely pace it had taken three weeks to reach the spot where the fox had bitten him during their picnic. They hadn't traveled in a straight line. They had deviated to investigate Shard rumors. They had also left the beaten path to search for places to make money, and to find inns to sleep at and bathe at. If Inuyasha took a straight route back, cutting through mountain passes and directly through forests to reach Kaede's village he could shave a full two weeks from their journey back. Without the others tagging along and without sleep he could do it perhaps in three days. With Kagome that time would be lengthened because of the added weight and possibly the need to sleep. It could lengthen to five days.

His golden eyes slid back to Kagome's earthy brown. He projected confidence at her as he said, "Four days."

"And if I don't come?" Kagome asked.

He frowned. "Four days, wench. With or without you. But I ain't leaving you with those Shards here. Four days is more than enough time for you to go and get yourself kidnapped and killed and all our Shards stolen by Naraku."

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, Inuyasha," Sango muttered, scolding him gently.

"Feh—if I left it would fucking happen all right."

"Then I'll go with you," Kagome said, nodding. She had donned her brave face, smiling at him, but the hardness in her jaw had not yet diminished. She was troubled. Inuyasha's answer had not satisfied her somehow.

"Then let's go already," he snapped. He turned and knelt on one knee. With practiced ease Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and let her ankles fall into the crooks of Inuyasha's elbows. He rose to his full height a second later and glanced around him at the others. He gave a slight nod at them. "We'll see you at the well then and you're all going to feel dumb when I don't get sick."

He muttered to himself as he turned away and sprinted for the forest: "Damned crybabies."

Kagome smiled into his hair and said nothing. She closed her eyes as the trees sped by and Inuyasha's breathing grew faster but steady. The strength of his body always astounded her. The endless endurance, the heightened senses, and his indestructible feet. It was hard to imagine that he was susceptible to illness, but she had seen the way his ears swiveled when he had told them that he hadn't gotten sick before. It was a sure tell that he was lying.

She laid her head against his shoulder. _Please don't let him get sick…_

_

* * *

  
_

Four days had been a very conservative estimate. Kagome dozed on Inuyasha's back, but the hanyou was not always a smooth runner so at times she found herself jarred awake. Sleeping on his back was uncomfortable. Her dreams were jerky, unclear, stilted. As the days passed she began to think she was the one about to fall ill. Her joints ached, her head spun, and fear chased her, as potent as Naraku.

Inuyasha asked her often if she wanted to stop, but Kagome always told him to keep going. Finally in the evening of the third day Inuyasha had to stop and rest. The moment her feet touched the ground in the cool shade of the forest, Kagome thought she would pass out and sleep as deeply as the dead. Instead Inuyasha did that and she found herself watching him, obsessively thinking of his bite wound. She had doused it in the contents of a water bottle after the bite, but that hardly seemed enough. Was it healing? Inuyasha hadn't spoken of it. When he began to twitch in his sleep and mumble, Kagome found herself amused and disturbed at once. His hands and fingers twitched, jerkily. She remembered the way the fox had shuddered and twitched.

New knowledge floated to her, a flicker of a memory from her science class. Rabies was a nerve disease. Nerves, twitching…

She covered her lips with one hand and held her breath, trying to clear her feverish, panicked mind. The tears leaked out as she shook Inuyasha awake. "We need to get going! You don't have any time!"

The hanyou glared at her groggily. His ears were floppy, appearing bigger than usual because he wasn't holding them erect and at attention. "I feel fucking fine!" he growled.

"We have to get you the cure," she insisted, licking her lips. "Get up. Let's go."

"Shit," he cursed and the ears flicked as he got to his feet and stretched. The flicker of his muscles, the clenching of his fist all made Kagome feel nauseous.

"We have to go!"

"I'm going!" he griped and knelt, letting her climb onto his back again. The journey began again and didn't stop for another two days.

On the evening of the fifth day of their grueling travel, Inuyasha burst through the foliage, flying from a high branch, and landed heavily in a rice field. The impact with water sent both of them sprawling. Kagome yelped, tossed into the air as Inuyasha fell. She spluttered in the water, coughing.

The sky was pleasant above them, dotted with white, puffy clouds like perfect cotton balls. Kagome gazed up at it for a moment as she hauled herself out of the water. The clouds made her think of the doctor, of how he would use a cotton ball soaked in alcohol before the shot. Inuyasha would probably vomit from the smell of the rubbing alcohol. She pulled her stringy, wet hair out of her face. Behind her Inuyasha emerged much slower, holding his arms out awkwardly at both sides. His face was twisted with disgust.

"Great," he grumbled. "Fucking great."

A man further down the field pointed at them and shouted, "Hello Lady Kagome!"

Although Kagome didn't recognize the man she felt the fear that had been eating at her insides diminish slightly. She blew out a long breath and stumbled on her aching joints. "We made it, Inuyasha." But the fear stayed inside her, whispering: _but it took five days…_

Inuyasha shook at her side, shedding water like a dog. The droplets splattered Kagome and she cringed, backing away from the hanyou. Inuyasha's white hair had fluffed out a little like Shippo's tail. He frowned continuously as they began walking once more, pausing to wring out his hair every few steps.

Although she had already waited five days to reach Kaede's village, it felt impossibly long before they reached her hut. Inuyasha moved as if he would go inside and visit her but Kagome snatched his hand, pulling him past the little hut.

"Kagome—what's the big idea? I'm fucking _starving!"_ During their rushed journey they had eaten only what Kagome had with her and a few mushrooms, fruits, and berries that Inuyasha had stumbled on while rushing through the woods. Usually Kagome was too worried to feel hunger, only nausea. Apparently Inuyasha did not suffer that same condition of unending worry. She pushed Inuyasha on with speed for once rather than having him do it, calling her slow.

"We'll get a snack before we leave for the hospital," she told him, tugging on his hand.

"I ain't going to any _whose-spit-all_ without eating, you got that, wench?" he snapped, ripping his hand away from her and glaring venomously.

Kagome led the way to the well and was the first to leap through it. Inuyasha followed her at a slower speed, clearly uneager, even apprehensive. On the other side of the well he picked up the pace, leaping out of the well, leaving Kagome inside it to climb out on her own.

"Hey!" Kagome yelled from the bottom. "You jerk!"

"You'll manage," he replied, stiffly.

She waited for a moment, thinking of making him _sit,_ but unable to bring herself to punish him when he might have so little time left—and it would be spent in agony, out of his mind. Kagome gripped the sides of the well and forced her tired, shaking muscles to work. She slipped on her first try and broke a nail, cutting it below the nail bed. She hissed with pain and shook the finger until it diminished. Several minutes later she reached the top, throwing one arm over the wooden lip of the well, and blinked with shock when she felt a warm, strong grip close over her wrist.

With an effort she lifted her head and saw with shock that Inuyasha had waited for her. The well house door was still shut. The blackness of the tiny hut enclosed them like the inside of a stomach. Inuyasha yanked on her and Kagome cried out with surprise as he foisted her right out of the well.

His golden eyes reflected the faint light that peeked through the cracked ceiling and the edges of the doorframe. "Told ya I wasn't fuckin' sick."

His ears swiveled once atop his head. It was the signal that he was lying.

She felt a pressure swell inside her chest: dread. "Inuyasha…"

He hadn't carried her up and out of the well. Why?

The hanyou turned from her and moved heavily up the steps, throwing open the well house door. Golden sunlight, tinged red with the nearness of the sunset, streamed in. Kagome shielded her eyes and sniffled back her tears. _He's fine,_ she told herself. _He's fine!_

_

* * *

_

A/N: So short and sweet. This is not a big project, just a fun look at this disease. For me it's a treat to look at the disease and wonder how and if it would make someone like Inuyasha get sick. Do hanyou get sick? It seems to me that Inuyasha knew how to treat Kagome's sickness in one episode because he must've been sick himself and learned from his mom how to make it so he could treat himself and others in the future. But then again in the beginning after he suffers some injuries, Kagome tries to treat him and he resists. When she gets a look he's healed and he tells her something like "my body is different." So...how? I find that fun to play with.

It's really annoying but I researched historical plagues and just about nothing shows up about Japan. I know they're an island so they're isolated and there was contact with China, but either they just don't really get sick or...? The only specific reference I got was to some writing in 1500 something about syphillis. Yeah. Zippety doo-dah.


End file.
